As soon as I found out about this Brazzeltag - I just knew I would HAVE to go! I recruited two of my friends and off we went. The weather was a little bit touch and go - but the day was a good one, even if we did get wet a few times.

For those of you who don't know... Speyer is home of the Sinsheim Technik Museum. They actually have a larger museum 20 minutes up the Autobahn in in Sinsheim. Think of the Speyer/Sinsheim Technik Museum's as a private version of the Smithsonian - and you will start to get the idea of how big these places are. Trains, planes, cars, rockets, Russian space shuttle... you name it - IT is here at these two museums! They are my favorite musuems in all of Germany! Open every day of the year(!) - they will not disappoint you! In fact often times I see the "werkstestwagens" from BMW/Porsche/MB/Audi in the parking lot of these museums. THAT is how cool these museums are... if even the guys testing our future German cars like coming for a visit!

Speyer is about 20 minutes South of Heidelberg and about an hour South of Frankfurt. Speyer is also quite close to Hockenheim Ring.

That museum literally has every single one of my favourite "things" ever created.

^^^this^^^

Talk about every "machine" under one roof..........Uber cool

Next time im over the pond this is a must visit!!!
A question and a comment to Dackelone.

Is the Tu 144 still at the museum?

Everything is a great experiance and must see.....except the Propped up 747 IMHO that was a waist of money....really who has not been/seen a 747 + the money spend making the special stand = Meh. They should have the Concorde on that spot......

Next time im over the pond this is a must visit!!!
A question and a comment to Dackelone.

Is the Tu 144 still at the museum?

YES, it is. AND... it stands on the roof of the sister museum in Sinsheim with the French Concord right next to it! AND... you can go up inside both planes and take a look-see.

Whats really cool at both museums - is that all the planes are kid friendly. You can grab a big coco-mat(think of a big German old school floor mat) and when you get to the top of any of the planes, you can go down a TUBE!! Its really cool of the museum(s) to do this. Kids and adults love it.

Both Sinsheim and Speyer have their own hotel on the premise. And you can buy a discounted ticket to see both museums + any of their IMAX films. Some are even in English. Both museums are open EVERY DAY and they are my favorite museum(s) to go visit. IF you love cars, planes, trains, military stuff, engines, etc... this is the place for you! I also like that when you walk inside the display halls... you can smell oil in the air. It's heaven for any motorhead.

Also many of the displays (at either museum) have euro coin operated machines. You can put on euro and see a 20m tree cut by a 200 year belt saw or the worlds largest musical organ being played. They even have one of the worlds largest locomotives(five drive wheels) that is also coin operated.

Like I said these two museums are a MUST SEE. Right up there with the BMW/Porsche & MB museum. And Sinsheim is only 30 minute car drive from Stuttgart.

Dack

French and Russian supersonic aircraft on the roof at Sinsheim.

These are old pics, now there are spiral staircases aft of each aircraft so visitors can go up inside the entire interior of the planes.

I cannot believe the variety of automotive, naval, aeronautical, military, industrial... JESUS IT JUST KEEPS GOING ON AND ON!!!

Leave it to the Germans. Talk about a culture of appreciation for engineering. We're headed to Washington DC in a couple of weeks for a short vacation, and we're planning to spend some time at the Smithsonian Air & Space museum as well as the American History museum, both of which have a fair number of static displays, but this just blows away anything I've ever seen.

Dack, can you give some background on what was going on? I did some Googling, but everything is in German. Is this some kind of festival?

I cannot believe the variety of automotive, naval, aeronautical, military, industrial... JESUS IT JUST KEEPS GOING ON AND ON!!!

Leave it to the Germans. Talk about a culture of appreciation for engineering. We're headed to Washington DC in a couple of weeks for a short vacation, and we're planning to spend some time at the Smithsonian Air & Space museum as well as the American History museum, both of which have a fair number of static displays, but this just blows away anything I've ever seen.

Dack, can you give some background on what was going on? I did some Googling, but everything is in German. Is this some kind of festival?

Yes, its a festival for car junkies. IF you look on their FB page you can see more pics. It went on for the entire weekend. They do this once or twice a year at each Museum. This was my first time going to one... but not my last!

For the entire weekend they put on a great show. They even partnered up with a aviation club from near by Mannheim... and those guys flew there old planes over the Speyer grounds. Of course it also helps that next door to the museum is an airfield. Thats actually how Speyer & Sinsheim get there large planes and rockets here. They fly or ship them by boat to Speyer... then move them at night with a heavy convoy shipper.

When you go to DW to the Smithsonian... be sure to also go to the "other" new Smithsonian over at Dulles Airport. Its next to the airport and they have a SR71, Enola Gay, and Space shuttle inside! Of course the original Smithsonian museum in downtown DC on the Mall is nice too. You can also arrange for a guided tour of SilverHill(in MD), the Smithsonian's storage area - that's quite cool to see.

When you go to DW to the Smithsonian... be sure to also go to the "other" new Smithsonian over at Dulles Airport. Its next to the airport and they have a SR71, Enola Gay, and Space shuttle inside! Of course the original Smithsonian museum in downtown DC on the Mall is nice too. You can also arrange for a guided tour of SilverHill(in MD), the Smithsonian's storage area - that's quite cool to see.

Brilliant! Thanks for the recommendation. I won't pass up the opportunity to lay eyes on an SR-71 in person